My SFG Plan for 2011

Blackrose 1/21/2011, 7:49 pm

Here is a pic of my plan for 2011. I have tried to use companion planting based on the following sites:
http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants

I've labelled plants that may not be easily recognizable by their little pictures to give an idea of what is planned.

I would love any feedback anyone can offer me. This garden is HUGE compared to last year. I only had one 4x3 last year, so I've greatly increased my square footage!

martha 1/21/2011, 11:31 pm

as well you should! What a great plan!

I did not follow Mel's advice to start small. The first year I think I had 6 boxes, then my 2nd year, last year, I had umpteen boxes including about 70 tomato plants. Admittedly, that amount of produce is because of our restaurant, but as far as taking care of the gardens, I had no regrets!

quiltbea 1/21/2011, 11:38 pm

Are those boxes on the left really all together in that shape without any walking space between?
Will you be able to reach across to the furthest plants?

I like how you have pictures of your crops so you know what to put where.

Blackrose 1/22/2011, 2:05 pm

martha wrote:as well you should! What a great plan!

martha wrote:I did not follow Mel's advice to start small. The first year I think I had 6 boxes, then my 2nd year, last year, I had umpteen boxes including about 70 tomato plants. Admittedly, that amount of produce is because of our restaurant, but as far as taking care of the gardens, I had no regrets!

70 tomato plants? Wow! You would need a restaurant to eat all those tomatoes. I think I saw pictures of your garden on the forum last year. Amazing! I wish I had the space. Smile

Blackrose 1/22/2011, 2:11 pm

quiltbea wrote:Are those boxes on the left really all together in that shape without any walking space between?
Will you be able to reach across to the furthest plants?

Yes, they are all together like that. It is 2 raised bed kits that are contructed in such a way that it turns it into 3. The box at the bottom left is 12 inches deep. Which is why I have my carrots in there.

To be honest, I didn't really think of being able to reach in. Rookie mistake! silly me

I'm going to try it this year and see how it goes. My DH is 6'4" with really long legs and arms. I'm sure he can reach where I can't. I also have space to walk all the way around the whole setup. So, I can reach in from all the outside edges.

quiltbea wrote:I like how you have pictures of your crops so you know what to put where.

I played with my plans so much over the winter, I decided to subscribe to Growveg.com. That is where it's from. It's a lot of fun to play with!

Icemaiden 1/22/2011, 4:19 pm

That looks wonderful! If you can walk round the edge then reaching won't be a problem.
I see that you are going with 16 carrots per square as recommended. I did that last year but think I'll try some at 25 this year and see if that works OK.
Love the look of your diagram Very Happy

Chopper 1/22/2011, 11:05 pm

I like it. Only comment is that the corn will create some shade but it looks like the way everything faces it should be a minor issue. Can't wait to see the pics when you have it all going.

jsavolt 2/26/2011, 11:46 am

Wow! How impressive this looks! I would love to know what you used for your map. I assume it's a new website? Please tell! Your plan looks good to me but I would like to know the direction (north, south, e &W) of your boxes. Maybe I missed that on your map. I try to keep taller things like tomatoes, pole beans, cucumbers on the north side so they get all day sun and don't shade my other plantings. You are going to have fun with so much new planting space!

Blackrose 2/26/2011, 5:47 pm

jsavolt wrote:Wow! How impressive this looks! I would love to know what you used for your map. I assume it's a new website? Please tell! Your plan looks good to me but I would like to know the direction (north, south, e &W) of your boxes. Maybe I missed that on your map. I try to keep taller things like tomatoes, pole beans, cucumbers on the north side so they get all day sun and don't shade my other plantings. You are going to have fun with so much new planting space!

Thank jsavolt! I'm really looking forward to getting this garden growing. I have already started a few things inside.

I used the garden planner from http://www.growveg.com to plan the garden. They have a free trial and/or you can pay a yearly subscription (sorry don't remember how much right now). I opted for the subscription since I am constantly changing my mind on what I want where! Laughing

As for the direction, if you look closely on my plan, right under the corn box, you will see a compass that shows which direction North is. I hope that answers your question. Smile

guyl01 2/28/2011, 11:52 am

Hello Blackrose, Your garden pans look good! I hope you will be able to reach the grids on each of the set of three boxes okay.
I love the symbols used on your plans Blackrose.
May I ask where you found them? or were they part of a program for gardeners!

Wishing you well,
Guyl01

NHGardener 3/7/2011, 11:05 pm

[quote="Blackrose"]

jsavolt wrote:As for the direction, if you look closely on my plan, right under the corn box, you will see a compass that shows which direction North is.

The direction of your lot is probably like mine. If I do my boxes perpendicular to the rest of everything here, so it all lines up nicely, then my gardens will not be quite south-facing, but more southeast facing (I think) (unless it's southwest facing, I get confused). I'm thinking about turning them on an angle so they will be true south-facing, but they won't square with the house & driveway, and they'll almost be triangular on the slight slope. Hmmm.

Blackrose 3/7/2011, 11:09 pm

I have a little more than a slight slope on the left side of my plan. I'm thinking I will have to lay some landscape fabric on the grass leading down the slope for the watermelon vine to grow on. It would be really difficult to change the angle of my beds because of the slope there. So, that's why North ended up at the top left corner. I figure it's close enough. Very Happy

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Your plans look good!

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